An Early Christmas
by Alandra-Noir
Summary: A little tidbit, drabble, whatever that involves Tony and Pepper. 'S a try for some romance. Fluff, really.


Kay, this is my first fanfiction like, ever. I'm still getting a feel for the characters...

And obviously, Tony and Pepper don't belong to me.

Feel free to lemme know what you think!

**An Early Christmas**

It was Christmas morning.

And a very sleepy-eyed Pepper Potts had been pulled out of bed by her employer's phone call. At 4:30. In the morning. Her hair was a mess, she was sure. And the only thing she had clean was a rumpled t-shirt and some flannel pajama pants. And heels. It was an embarrassment just waiting to happen, but she _thought_ she'd been on a short Christmas vacation. Mr. Stark had actually given her the weekend off, and it just so happened that the 25th coincided with that. She was going to have a real Christmas. No job, no flighty billionaire playboy to keep track of. Just the holiday, and Pepper alone to enjoy it. It was going to be amazing.

Was, of course, being the active word. With a sigh, she stepped into the house. "Mr. Stark?" Strangely enough, the main floor was well lit, and there was an unusual warmth that came with it. When Pepper wasn't there to have Jarvis turn the lights on, they were rarely used. Had Tony finally pulled himself out of his basement-garage? Pepper half wondered if he even knew it was Christmas. She hadn't told him, and usually things like major holidays slipped the boss' mind.

"Welcome, Miss Potts. Mr. Stark wasn't expecting you so soon. Punctual as usual."

Pepper raised an eyebrow. "Jarvis, he said it was important. Enough to get me out of bed and drag me out here… I thought I should get here as fast as I could…" She suddenly felt extremely self-conscious about her lack of decent attire. There was a grease stain on the sleeve of that t-shirt, which made sense, as it so happened to be Tony's. One of the few things he didn't have to have dry-cleaned. And Pepper, only having time to do her laundry when she wasn't busy doing work, had found a few of his things with her own. With only few precious days to get her own affairs in order, laundry had been on the list. And it came down to the fact that everything she normally wore was in the wash. The shirt she was now wearing was the only clean one she had. "Please don't let him notice…"

"What was that, Miss Potts?" Jarvis' smooth voice inquired.

Pepper could feel the tips of her ears turning red. "Nothing… Where's the boss?"

"He's in the kitchen. Shall I alert him to your arrival?"

"No, it's alright… I'll uh, surprise him." Maybe dropping in on him unexpectedly would make up for him waking her up in the first place. Just what could have been so important? Of course, Tony had been less than descriptive about it when he'd called._ 'Just come over. I know I said you could have the weekend off, but this is important,'_ he'd said. Of course, that had been enough for Tony, and before Pepper could respond, the line had gone dead.

Taking a deep breath, and hoping that her too-obvious blushing had disappeared enough to be less than noticeable, the young woman slipped her shoes off and tossed them onto the barely-used couch. She then quietly padded through the house, taking but a moment to muse quietly at the sparse decoration. It looked like Tony had actually tried to hang some lights, but gave up halfway through. Most likely, inspiration had hit, and he'd dashed back to the garage, ready to tinker away at whatever it was that had gone through that brain of his. There was a tree, but only because Pepper had insisted he get one. There were but a few strings of white lights and some silver tinsel on it. Classy, but simple. There were even a few gifts under it, which brought a bit of a smile to Pepper's face. From Tony to Tony, most of them were. There was one, she was sure, from Rhodey, and one from herself. Quaint, but really, what did you buy the man who had everything?

Rounding the corner that hid the kitchen from view, Pepper practically reeled back out of surprise. For the moment the room came into view, she was hit with the acrid smell of burned food. Blinking the tears back from the sudden assault on her nose, she almost laughed. Because standing at the kitchen island stove, half hidden by a rack of pots and pans hanging from the ceiling (ones that were rarely, if ever used), was the last person she expected to find in a kitchen.

Tony Stark, dressed in slightly singed silk pajamas and an apron, was doing his best to salvage what was left of the bacon he'd ruined. There were, on the counter, two plates of somewhat runny eggs, some toast, and what looked like glasses waiting to be filled with fresh-squeezed orange juice. The man was so thoroughly engrossed in his task that he hardly noticed Pepper's presence in the room. Just like he was when he was working with his little toys in the garage. The man, when it came to that, really only had a one-track mind.

Content to sit and watch, the woman crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the doorframe, hardly realizing a smile had come to her face. She watched as Tony cursed quietly and scrapped the whole batch of meat and then threw some more into the pan, obviously hoping his second try would fare better than the first. He'd managed to catch some of the grease spatter on his arm, jerking enough to nearly flip the entire pan over.

Finally, Pepper gave in and stepped up next to him, giving a bit of a shove to get him out of the way. "Mr. Stark, I'm not sure who taught you how to cook, but that is _not _how you should go about it."

Tony looked flabbergasted. "Pep- Miss Potts. You… Are early." His eyes trailed over her form, which was quite hidden in a too-large t-shirt and baggy pajama pants. Her hair was hanging loose behind her shoulders, something he rarely saw. It was nice. "It was supposed to take you another twenty minutes to get here. Why'd I hire such an efficient personal assistant?"

"Because you can barely do anything on your own. If I hadn't shown up," she flashed him a very knowing look, "You might just have burned that goatee of yours right off. And we couldn't have that, could we?"

"It would have grown back…" Tony pouted and peered over the woman's shoulder, trying to see where he'd gone wrong. To the man who'd never had to cook a meal for himself in his life, it looked like she was doing the exact same thing he had been.

"Tony…" Pepper started, trailing off at having used his first name. Immediately that blurred the line between employee and employer. It always had. She cleared her throat. Ignore that thought. "What was it that was so important? Surely it wasn't avoiding burning more bacon?"

The man gave a bit of a sniff and looked pointedly at the shiny pots just over his head. "Well, do you know what day it is today?"

"Is that question because you don't know, or is that leading to something else?" Pepper asked in that sarcastic tone she'd found herself using as of late. She paused. "It's Christmas morning, Tony."

Tony flashed that smile of his and nodded. "Yep. I know. Crazy, uh? Next week I plan on learning my social security number." His smile reached those dark eyes, which were full of an unusual look. It made Pepper's heart flutter momentarily in her chest. "And, well, I thought I'd invite you over for breakfast." He waved a hand at the half-assembled meals on the counter. "But you came in and ruined my surprise."

Pepper could feel that heat crawling back over her ears again, this time making it to her cheeks. She focused on the bacon. It was almost done. "Well, Mr. Stark, that's what you get for waking me up so early. Couldn't this have waited?"

"Nope," Tony leaned on the counter and raised his eyebrows, "And I lost track of time. It happens now and again."

"I see. Well, let's eat before the eggs get any colder." Pepper shuffled to the counter, dumped the still-sizzling bacon on the plates, and a bit awkwardly placed the pan back on the stove. She could feel Tony's eyes following her, and at that thought, she found herself wishing she'd had something else to wear. That man… She sometimes had no idea what to think about him. It was dangerous ground he was treading – but somehow, it was alright. After all, it was Christmas… And as much as she thought she was looking forward to it, Pepper was suddenly not too sure she wanted to spend Christmas alone. And after spending so much time around the man, it almost felt right that she was there, early as it might have been. Pepper half guessed that Tony hadn't yet slept. His eyes were a bit darker around the edges, and there was what looked suspiciously like a smear of dark oil on his forehead.

"Let's." Tony replied and reaching around the redhead, he grabbed both plates in each hand and wove around the island towards the doorway. "Oh, Pepper, grab those glasses and that pitcher, would you?"

Pepper blinked, trying very hard not to focus on the smell of his cologne and nodded, only half-paying attention to her hands, which had more mind to comply to Tony's wishes than her brain. She followed him out of the kitchen and into the living room, where a fire was roaring, and the tinted windows hinted at the start to sunrise. The Christamas tree glowed softly across the room, and Tony had taken a seat on the couch, setting the plates on the coffee table just in front of it.

There was a genuine smile on the man's face; not the one he used for the media, or the most fabulous looking woman at one of his galas. It was one she rarely saw, and it suddenly made it okay to shove her discarded heels out of the way and sit next to him, taking the offered plate of food, poorly cooked as it was. It was almost adorable how hard he'd tried. And how much Pepper had wanted to help fix it.

They finished their meal in silence, the occasional clink of fork against plate, or glass being placed again on the table the only sound between the two. Tony had quietly finished his meal and leaned back, letting his arms drape over the back of the couch, satisfied that he'd completed the task he'd set for himself. That little victory smile quickly disappeared though, as the man had almost immediately dozed off.

Pepper had taken a bit more time to eat, and found that when she'd finished, her boss was dead asleep. She couldn't help but shake her head and give an inward laugh. As it so happened, Pepper had been right. Tony hadn't yet slept – holed up in that garage of his, working on something or other instead of keeping an eye on what time (or day) it was.

With a bit of a sigh that turned into an unexpected yawn, she sat back into the soft fabric of the furniture, unconsciously pulling her legs up underneath her. She only then realized just how sleepy she had been. Maybe the adrenaline from the unexpected, and unnecessarily urgent call had worn off. Or maybe it was the warmth of a real, home-cooked meal. It had been a while since she'd eaten something so simple, but so nice. Even if the eggs were a bit runny.

Before she knew it, she'd curled up next to her boss, leaning up against his warm body. It was nice, hearing his heartbeat through the soft silk of his shirt. There had been times she'd wondered if Tony Stark had heart at all, and then he'd turn around and do something like make breakfast for her. Heavy eyelids and comforting warmth overcame the need to stay awake, and she found her mind drifting towards slumber. Pepper hardly noticed Tony's arm slip quietly around her shoulders.

Okay, maybe missing her intended Christmas hadn't been so bad after all. Because this one was pretty amazing.


End file.
